Tradition is like the crest of a wave always pushing beyond itself. Faithfulness to a tradition is not gained through treading water in repetition of some aspect of the past, but through swimming with the crest into fresh interpretations of God’s gracious presence with us.
                                  - Marjorie Suchocki

 
READING:
This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, The God who summons horses and chariots and armies— they lie down and then can’t get up; they’re snuffed out like so many candles: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
                                - Isaiah 43.16-19b (The Message)

 
REFLECTION:
This passage from Isaiah should be heard and heeded – big time! - by the church in our day. In an era when our faith is in serious decline, we still tend toward “Business as usual,” clinging obstinately to rituals, traditions, and the way we have always done things, without regard to how our message comes across in contemporary culture.

To this tendency God says through Isaiah: “…don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.” In light of this passage I must conclude that we have neither reason nor justification for clinging to the past, because God has gone on ahead, ready to do new things, and enticing us toward an open and exciting future. Perhaps we can’t see it yet, but God can; so we need not fear, because God can be trusted.

So our mandate is simple and straightforward; out with the old and in with the new. It’s time for a wholesale recreation of this community we call church. Or is it? If we examine the passage from Isaiah as a whole, we find the situation a bit more complicated. The God who advises us to stop going over old history, takes care to remind us of all that has been done for us up until now. This God builds a road through the ocean, carves a path through pounding waves, and snuffs out armies like so many candles. If these saving acts sound familiar, it’s because they refer to the events of the Exodus; the parting of the Red Sea and the decimation of Pharaoh’s army.

So perhaps the past is not completely irrelevant; it seems to have some relationship with the new thing God wants to do. Perhaps Suchocki says it best. Tradition is like the crest of a wave, building on the strength of a past blessed by God’s presence, yet always pushing beyond itself toward the new things God is doing.

This dynamic relationship between past and future, old and new, traditional and contemporary applies as well to our re-visioning process here at Overland Park Christian, which we will celebrate on Sunday. We are not called to annihilate the old to make room for the new. Rather, we are called to build on the strength of our past, allowing it to undergird new ways of expression, new ways of reaching out to others in a world that is constantly changing.

When we look at the results of our visioning process on Sunday, we will see that they contain nothing wholly new; no radical departure from values that have guided us in the best of our past: a commitment to service in our larger community, to an open and welcoming invitation into our faith community, and to the affirmation of all God’s children, regardless of their stripe or color.

So what’s new? We are recommitting ourselves to these values, examining their boundaries to see if we have applied them broadly and effectively enough, and striving to offer them in a manner that will be inviting to a wider range of folks in our community. In short, we have committed to be intentional about letting God mold us into a church for this day, and for the days to come. I don’t know about you, but I for one find this exciting! 

I met a stranger yesterday. I put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place, and in the name of the Triune, he blessed myself and my house. My cattle and my loved ones. And the lark sang in His song: Often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger's guise. Often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.
           - Alfred burt, adapted from an old English     
              hospitality rune



READINGS:
That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was. He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?” They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?” He said, “What has happened?” They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.” Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him. They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
                                        - Luke 24.13-31 (The Message)

“There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’ “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”    
                                           - Luke 10.30b-37 (The Message)


REFLECTION:
I would like to provide some context for the two passages that underlie my sermon on Sunday, and then offer some thoughts to guide your reflection on these passages. That being done, we’ll all be ready for Sunday.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is, of course, well known. While our reading includes only the parable proper, the inquiry by the lawyer, who is my neighbor?, was a frequent topic of debate in the Judaism of the day. There were different interpretations, some quite narrow, some a bit more expansive, and the lawyer wanted to know where Jesus stood. He was totally unprepared, however, for Jesus’ response. Jesus didn’t really answer his question with the parable. It is as if he told the lawyer that the question needed no answer; anyone – not anyone like me, not anyone in my ethnic or social group, not anyone with faith like mine – anyone in need is your neighbor. The only question worth its salt concerns whether he will be a neighbor to those in need. The parable then images something of the extent of Jesus’ notion of neighbor, expansive as it is.

The story of Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus has an interesting context as well. One of the concerns of the second generation of Christians, to whom Luke was writing, was how they would gain access to the presence of the Christ. They had neither known Jesus of Nazareth, nor been with him to absorb his example and teachings. How can we know the Christ? They asked; and now that he is no longer with us, how can we be touched by his presence? Luke likely included this story to answer that question. Whenever you participate in communion – when you break bread together – you find yourself in the presence of the Christ, to be blessed, transformed, and challenged. This story would have been of great comfort to them.

One theme that links these stories concerns the element of mystery in the advent of God. That is to say, God more often than not comes to us in times, places, and especially people, that we least expect. Grace comes as a surprise, taking us off guard because it is not at all what we would expect. And the “True Bread from Heaven” can provide nurture and nourishment when we least expect it, even on the road to Emmaus, when we break bread together.

I invite you to meditate on the element of mystery in God’s coming to us embedded in these stories, and from there think of unexpected times, places, or people through which God has come to you. I hope to see you on Sunday.

“And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” 
     - From In the Garden, by C.      
       Austin Miles



READING:
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
                                       -       John 5.19-24 (NRSV)

 
 REFLECTION: 
The chorus from In the Garden is our worship heading on Sunday, because it expresses so much about the life of faith, both now and in the future; in a succinct, profound, and beautiful manner. It is also a hymn that is sung time and again at celebrations of the life of a loved one who has died. It is the last verse that is particularly comforting at such a time, because it reminds us that though our trials are many in this life, our future is with God.

 There are many hymns popular at funerals for precisely this reason; they comfort us in times of tragedy. Think, for example, of Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, or Precious Lord Take My Hand (that our own Cal McBride will play Sunday on classical guitar), to mention but a few. When we consider such hymns, we often find that it is particularly the last verse or verses that focus on our destiny in heaven, while the others speak of faith in the present tense. But we tend to focus in such hymns on the comforting part; the last part.

I find that faith is often like this; we focus primarily on the last verse, our destiny with God in heaven. And this is a sure bet; God will never abandon us. When we focus on our destiny, however, we lose the powerful message that God is present with us now, and invites us to live a life that anticipates the joy we will know in heaven. Faith is powerful now, this day, and in my perspective we are called to live faith fully in the present, and not simply wait for the sweet by and by.

This raises significant questions. For example, how do we live our faith in the midst of life? How are we touched and transformed by God’s presence now, in our daily life? On Sunday we will explore practical aspects of the spiritual life that can strengthen our faith and its expression; such things as prayer, meditation, and bible study. Between now and then I invite you to reflect on ways God can use to strengthen your faith, and then use you to pay forward the blessings God bestows on you day by day. I hope you will join us. 

Why not look at the beauty your memory holds, so nourishing that light can be. The past’s lips are not deceased. Let them comfort you if they can.
                              - Kabir






READINGS: 
Use your ambition to try to get the greater gifts. And I’m going to show you an even better way. If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever. Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
                    - 1 Corinthians 12.31 – 13.8a (CEB)


He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
                   - Micah 6.8


REFLECTION:
I hope you are aware that members of our faith community have been invited to submit beloved worship elements for use in our gatherings. This could be a song, a bible passage, an activity, etc. When you are in worship, just write your favorite things on the green attendance card, and drop it in the offering plate. Then we will work them into worship in the weeks ahead.

Planning worship around our favorite things you say… hum; is this healthy? Some would say no, it’s not healthy. They would point out that the church looks inward too much and too often, that we tend to do things the way we have always done them, with no consideration of what would be inviting and meaningful to new folks trying us on for size. It’s hard to dismiss this argument; it is done often in many churches; churches that are not guest friendly. So much for spreading good news.

In my estimation, however, ancient or modern is not the only option. The old and the new are not necessarily incompatible. As suggested in our worship heading, these memories from days gone by, warm emotions from childhood, dad’s favorite hymn (my dad’s favorite was In the Garden, hands down!), bible passages that influenced faith, and the like provide a light that can not only comfort us, but inspire us to a deeper faith. These voices from the past can encourage us to reach out to others, not in a defensive or challenging way, but rather in an inviting way.

When these favorite things from the past are used in the service of love, they can inspire us to pay forward the blessings we have received. They can inspire us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God; the things God desires from us, as Micah points out in Micah 6.8.

In preparation for Sunday morning, (we worship at 8:30 and 10:30), I invite and encourage you to think of your favorite things, and reflect on how they can motivate you to be a blessing to others; and discern ways they can inspire doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.

The old and the new, the ancient and the modern; these can be woven together in loving, meaningful ways. They can be used in such a way to both nourish and comfort us, and extend a loving invitation to others to experience the same blessings.